Every now and then there is a need to move heavy objects to inside a building or from one floor of a building to another. This type of need arises e.g. when replacing the transformer of a building. Often the transformer is disposed elsewhere than at street level, for which reason removing the old transformer from the building and bringing a new one into the place of the old one necessitates vertical moving of the transformers.
Lifting heavy objects to the highest floors of a building is performed in prior art by lifting the object to the desired height outside the building and moving the object to inside via an aperture in the wall of the building, or by lowering the object from above to inside the building or onto the roof. This type of method is awkward to implement and requires, among other things, arranging a crane for the site. On the other hand, a method is also known in the art wherein an elevator is used for moving heavy objects from one floor to another in a building. For this purpose the elevator must have been dimensioned to be capable in terms of its lifting capacity for this type of special lift. Special lifts/lowerings need to be performed perhaps only a few times during the lifetime of an elevator or of a building. One problem is that although a large lifting capacity is not required of the elevator in normal operation, the elevator must be dimensioned to be large owing to these rare lifting situations. The whole elevator system (including, among other things, a motor, a drive, electrical devices, hoisting ropes, guide rails, rope compensation and safety devices) must have been made according to the heaviest load to become heavier than the normal use of the elevator would require. The heavier dimensioning results in the elevator consuming considerably more energy during its lifetime and being more expensive in terms of its manufacturing costs and installation costs.